Bosnia identifies six more genocide victims

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) – Bosnia and Herzegovina has identified another six victims from the genocide in the 1990s, according to an advocacy organizatiion.

The Institute for Missing Persons said the victims had been missing since 1992 and their remains were found in different mass graves across the country in 2021.

The Bosnian War was sparked by the break-up of Yugoslavia, which led Muslim-majority Bosnia to declare independence in February 1992.

However, the capital Sarajevo, came under attack by ethnic Serb militias in what became the longest siege in modern history, lasting nearly four years.

Between April 1992 and December 1995, an estimated 100,000 Bosniak Muslims were killed and 2.2 million displaced. As many as 50,000 Muslim women were raped, according to estimates from the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the UN.

Bosnia continues to identify the remains of victims from decades ago who were consigned to mass graves without proper identification and rites. After identification, living relatives perform proper Islamic funeral services and arrange for a dignified burial of the remains of the victims.